New ships

[Colossus1921]

I'd like to see a true Imperial combat ship. While there is, of course, the Courier, both the Clipper and Cutter are, essentially, armed traders.

The Feds have the FDS, FAS, FGS and Corvette. Even their names imply that their primary role is military.

What I'd like to see is an Imperial super-heavy fighter. Good maneuverability, decent speed and two class 4 hardpoints. Imagine the Empire's bigger, badder Vulture.

I don't think that that's going to happen. In-game, the Empire is all about soft power projection, aka using diplomatic or economic might to get what they want. That's why the Majestic looks more like a trader than a warship. Because it is.

The Federation is all about hard power projection, aka using military might to get what they want.

You can see the difference in the design of their top end ships. The Cutter is sleek and pretty, designed to impress everyone before it even lands. Then a Imperial diplomat hops out and sells the 700 tons of rare, exotic trade goods in his cargo hold. People remember that this is a common thing, as long as you're on good terms with the Empire.

The Corvette, on the other hand, is sleek in another way. It's deadly. When it shows up at a station, it's a reminder of the military might of the Federal Navy. It's a reminder that if a system decides to go rogue, they're going to see a hundred corvettes up close, with a Farragut coming in behind them to back them up.

 

[Klajorne]

Isn't that what the Asp Scout and Asp Explorer are already for?

Only in the same sense that the Imperial Cutter is an upgrade to the Type 9 because it has a (potentially) larger cargo capacity. The AspX* fills more of the "multi-role" niche along the same lines as the Cobra -> Asp -> Python -> Anaconda. Sure, you can do many things with it, including exploration, but it doesn't have the trade-offs that make it a specialized exploration vessel. Meaning: the Diamondback Explorer, for being cheaper/smaller than the Asp Explorer, has a greater jump range. Yet, it does this at the "cost" of a wide variety of internals.

What I'm looking for would be something that has the Anaconda's jump range, but in a medium chassis. The tradeoff, sticking with the current Diamondback design paradigm, would be fewer internals than the equivalent multi-roles (ie: the Asp/Python), though hopefully more than the ship it's upgrading from (because, as mentioned, the DBX can't pack everything you need to explore the new Horizons world). I'd prefer it to follow the DBX's tougher firepower over the DBS's agility, but that can all be hashed out in the design phase.

*Sorry, the Asp Scout is new enough I don't know enough about it to comment on it.

 

[Stealth Gamer92]

I'd like to see a true Imperial combat ship. While there is, of course, the Courier, both the Clipper and Cutter are, essentially, armed traders.

The Feds have the FDS, FAS, FGS and Corvette. Even their names imply that their primary role is military.

What I'd like to see is an Imperial super-heavy fighter. Good maneuverability, decent speed and two class 4 hardpoints. Imagine the Empire's bigger, badder Vulture.

Never gonna happen. Fed's are the one's who'd get a ship like that, and even they won't because 2 C4's is overkill on anything short of a ship like the corvette(which handels way the hell to well to have them imo!!!).

 

[Deleted member 110222]

I'd like a dedicated exploration platform.

 

[Essential NPC]

I don't know how I feel about capital ships actually. I think I'd rather have multi crew before capitals to see how things work. I don't like the idea of having a ship that I absolutely need another player to fly with.

I super agree with a dedicated imperial fighter that can land on a medium pad.

I also really really like the idea of an asymmetrical ship.